By: Alex Jaffe

Samuel J. Poopflinger III Esquire, a great hamster. He has a fluffy apricot fur coat with a snowy white stomach and a white speckled band down his back. This adventurous little hamster is like the Indiana Jones of my home. He has a chubby round body with long whiskers instead of a leather hat and whip, but the adventurous spirit of a Steven Spielberg creation. Of all his escapades, the first time he was missing from his wire habitat was the most dangerous.

I was in my room playing with the little rodent. He has a certain empty look on his face, which tells you that he knows absolutely nothing. While observing him I would swear he was thinking. "…Do you have food for me?" and "…Why did you wake me from my 22 hour nap?" These are just a few things I was sure was going through his tiny hamster mind. My mom announced that dinner was ready. I finished playing with Sammy and put him back in his cage. Midway through dinner I realized that I didn’t properly close Samuel’s cage. I ran into my room to see if the rodent made use of the open cage door. My unsettling fear was confirmed. We had a fury little fugitive on the loose in the house. I searched my room over and over again, everywhere I could think of. I started sobbing uncontrollably at the thought that we may never find Sam. If Samuel heard me he’d probably run farther away.

After that my Mom came into see what was wrong. Once my Mom tried to comfort me I realized the one place I forgot to check. I ran back to my room and when I put my hand behind the TV and felt the familiar warm fur ball behind the TV, he scurried out quicker than you would believe his fat little body could travel.
There have been many times since that first great escape when our hamster has packed up his cheeks with sunflower seeds and went on an all-night adventure. He’s always appeared the next morning, usually looking for my Mom to give him some cheese before going back in his cage for a much-needed nap. Samuel could have been electrocuted if he chewed through the electrical wires behind the TV. There might have been a new entree for dinner, Sam—kabob. Thankfully, Sammy wasn’t hurt and is still fine today.